One strategy that readers can use
to increase
comprehension is visualization. Visualization is when readers make
pictures in
their heads about what they reading. This lesson is designed to help
students
increase comprehension through visualization. To become a successful
reader a
child must learn to visualize what it is that they are reading.
Visualization takes place when children make a mental image of what it
is that
they are reading. Since the most
important goal of reading is comprehension, children can visualize what
they
are reading so that it more easily makes sense. This lesson will
teach
students how to visualize a text by drawing pictures of what they see
while
reading thus promoting comprehension.

Materials:

A copy
of Where the Wild Things Are By
Maurice Sendak. Pub. Harper Collins 1988

1. Review silent reading
with the students. Today we are going to talk
about
visualizing what we are reading, but first we have to review silent
reading.
What is silent reading? Silent reading is when we read to ourselves
quietly and
our mouths do not move.

2. I
want everyone to put their heads on their
desk, relax, close your eyes, and listen to me very closely.Imagine your sitting outside and
its very very hot. the sun is so bright that you have to squint
your eyes. you are really thirsty and there is a cold glass
filled with ice next to you. what is in that glass? your
not alone either there are people with you. who is with
you? you are all together having fun playing games in the bright
sun shine. what kid of games are you playing?Give them
ample amount of time to imagine their pictures. I
want everybody to open their eyes and we will talk about our
visualizations.Describe to your
students what you see in
your head so that they have an example of Visualization.
Visualization is when you imagine or see a picture in your head. It is
important to visualize when you are reading to help you understand what
is
going on.

3. Read the story Where
the Wild Things Are and hand out
paper and pencils. I am going to read this
story aloud
to you but I am not going to show you any pictures. I want you to
listen very
closely to the words I am saying and try to paint a picture in your
head of
what you think is going on. Think about what Max looks like and what
kind of
things he is going to see on his adventure.. (read 8 pages) Ok,
now I
want you draw a picture on your paper. Think about the things you
visualized in
your head and draw that on paper. These visualizations are helping you
understand the story by picturing the characters, places, and events in
your
mind!

4. Give everybody a copy
of Chocolate Fever, a pencil and one piece of copy paper. Have the
students to
read chapter 1 of the books silently to themselves.
After you have read chapter one (4 pages), then I want you to draw on
your
paper a picture of what you visualized. Write about your picture at the
bottom
of the page to help you remember what it is about. Pay close attention
to adjectives.
Remember that adjectives are describing words. These words will help
you with
your pictures. We will do this after each chapter. At the end of the
book, we
will have a visualization book or picture book of all the chapters. This
lesson will have to be done over a course of a week.

5. Allow the students to
finish their pictures for chapter 1. I want
you to turn
to a neighbor and I want you to talk about your visualizations. Compare
and
contrast them to see how they are the same and how they are different.
Describe
what words you used to create your picture and what things stuck out in
your
mind that made you draw the things you did.Collect the
student's
pictures and keep them so that at the end they can be put in a folder
together
for each student.

Assessment:
I would
assess the students by looking at their pictures. I would make sure
that their
pictures match the story and that they are not making it up. Make sure students are using
descriptive words and are able to rationalize the reasons they drew the
things
they drew.